The Best Automation Tools For Online Entrepreneurs That Work A 9 To 5

Running Quirktastic Media with a 2nd shift full-time job has come with a slew of added pressure. There are several days where I feel like I don't have enough time to do all that needs to be done and I have to constantly remind myself to make a life outside of my career. While hiring a team of creatives has made life a lot easier, it comes with a whole other level of needed organization.

When I first started building my team, back when I had Quirky, Brown Love, I saw myself always getting frustrated with deadlines that were being missed and the work that was (or wasn't being produced). Instead of blaming on my team; however, I realized that it was actually my fault. How could I expect my team to perform if I wasn't staying consistently organized and properly communicating my ideas? Therefore, when I started Quirktastic, I knew that organization and automation had to be at the forefront of everything that I did.

If you are currently trying to figure out how to stay organized with your online platform while juggling a full time job or if you are wondering why your team isn't working out the way you wanted to, these two tools are definitely worth trying out.

1. Asana

For those who aren't familiar with Asana, it is a project management tool for teams. It allows you to assign tasks to team members and will automatically send deadlines via email without you having to. One tip that I have for those who want to work contributing writers without giving access to your site, you can have the contributors upload their documents directly to Asana. That way, you aren't hunting through your email or Google Docs when it comes to scheduling your posts. You can also change the assignment from the contributor to yourself after they submit, therefore you will be send reminders on when to schedule the post!

2. ViralTag

If you are tired of having to keep up with posting your social media in real time or are tired of having to upload content into your schedule after your post batch is up, you absolutely need to try out ViralTag. ViralTag allows you to keep content saved as "Evergreen Content" and will recycle your posts in a queue based on the schedule you set. This alone saves me so much time and helps bring in a majority of the traffic to Quirktastic.co.

Originally, I was using a similar scheduler that recycles content; however, I made the switch to ViralTag because it is only $29/month for the individual plan and allows you to schedule on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (yessss!), Tumblr, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Scheduling on ViralTag is also extremely easy. They keep up with all of the changes that the various social media channels make so it is also awesome for staying ahead of the game.

Another feature that I really appreciate is how prompt the customer service is. There is a little chat window in the corner of your schedule that allows you to get in touch with a customer service person easily (and everyone that I've talked to has been so helpful and nice!).